Vibratory compactors typically comprise a plate or drum that is oscillated or vibrated to impose compaction forces on a densifiable surface, such as ground soil, roadway base material, or paving material. Generally the plate or drum member is resiliently mounted on the frame of the compactor to reduce the vibration forces transmitted, through the frame, to other components of the machine.
However, resiliently mounting the vibrating member on the vehicle has been only partially effective because of the inherent physical limitations associated with such mounting arrangements. If the spring rate, or stiffness, of the resilient attachment elements is too low, the machine may be difficult to control and the compaction forces transmitted to the compactible material may be undesirably affected, A high spring rate may produce excessive vibration of the frame and machine components mounted on the frame, such as bearings, drive train elements and the operator's station. Therefore, the amount of vibration isolation between the compacting element and the frame of the compactor has heretofore been a compromise in which neither compaction efficiency and machine controllability nor wear on machine elements and operator comfort could be optimized without undesirably affecting each other.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the problems set forth above. It is desirable to have an apparatus that will attenuate the vibrational forces transmitted by the frame of a vibratory compactor to other components of the machine. It is also desirable to have such an apparatus that will not adversely affect the interaction of the actively vibrated member with the material being compacted.